Nicholas Oyler – Bikeway & Pedestrian Program Manager

WHAT: Second public input meeting for the Shelby Farms Greenline western expansion project, which would expand the Greenline into Tobey Park.

Via a new bridge, this western extension will add about half of a mile to the Greenline and establish an important connection over an active railroad and the Poplar Avenue and Union Avenue viaducts. A federal transportation grant would cover 80 percent of the project’s cost.

We first invited the public to learn more about this project last October. At that meeting, we presented the project’s context and purpose, and asked for attendees to share their thoughts.

Since that first meeting, the project team has arrived at two design alternatives. We’ll present those alternatives on Thursday, and seek input on the bridge’s appearance and associated amenities.

During National Bike Month in May, we hosted a photo competition. The contest was simple: post as many photos of people riding bikes on Facebook and Twitter as you could. The more photos posted, the more points received, and the better your chances of winning the $150 gift certificate to Pedaltown Bicycle Company.

On July 15th, Pedaltown celebrated its grand opening, and hosted the photo contest winner for the presentation of the gift certificate. Congratulations to Michael Lander!

Michael enjoys a good ride himself, and took to the streets to capture photos of his fellow Memphians on bikes. In fact — seemingly never missing an opportunity during the contest — he submitted multiple photos each day over the course of the month. He stated that the contest motivated him to ride on many unfamiliar streets around the city, and in the process he discovered and documented the diversity of people riding bikes in Memphis. You can even read more about Michael’s experience biking in the Bluff City, and elsewhere, on his blog, Memphis Cyclist.

Thanks to Micheal and all others who participated in the contest! And a special thanks to Pedaltown for its sponsorship of the contest. You can visit them at 2547 Broad Avenue.

But what about the contest’s photos?

No worries, we’ve taken some of the best submissions and formatted them into this poster…

National Bike Month may be over, but these Memphians — and thousands more like them — are still here, and still riding their bikes. With your help, we can continue to spread the word that Memphis does indeed ride.